


A Life Of No Regrets

by create_serenity (Sivany)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Hogwarts Eighth Year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-05-03 09:41:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5285885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sivany/pseuds/create_serenity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are some things Harry knows he will never regret.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Life Of No Regrets

**Author's Note:**

> Title: A Life Of No Regrets  
> Word Count: 752  
> Rating: G  
> Contains: No warnings apply  
> Notes: Thank you to the mods and to my beta. This turned out shorter than I intended but I hope you enjoy this brief zip through Harry's life, darkravenwrote

When he was eleven a boy held out his hand to Harry. Harry didn't take it. 

He never regretted it.

When he was seventeen Harry took part in a war and killed the greatest villain the wizarding world had ever known. 

He never regretted this either.

Then he turned eighteen and his life started all over again.

*****

In September Harry gets on the train and travels back to the place that has always seemed like home. Newly repaired and truly safe for the first time in years, Hogwarts calls him like an old friend. He slips back into being a schoolboy as if the war had never happened. 

Harry sees Draco Malfoy on the train, huddled into a compartment with Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini, the only other returning eighth year Slytherins. He looks defiant, but there is regret in those silver-grey eyes. Harry walks past and ignores him.

In October Harry tells Ginny that they can never again be more than friends. She cries and he feels as if his safe world is being destroyed all over again, but he cannot pretend anymore. The war has changed him. It has changed them all.

In November Ron finally forgives him for breaking his sister's heart. It will take Ginny another two months longer to come around, but she has always been tough. Harry knows what he has done is for the best.

In December Harry stays at Hogwarts for Christmas one last time. He exchanges gifts, eats far too much and throws snowballs with Ron and Hermione. His safe world is remade. He sees Draco alone by the lake and wonders what to say to him. In the end he says nothing.

In January Harry tells his friends that he is gay. The revelation does not seem to surprise them as much as he expects. Hermione only nods wisely and it seems she has shared her wisdom with Ron, judging by his reaction. Ginny hugs him and Harry knows that everything will be just fine.

In February Harry punches Draco. In the beginning it is something and nothing. Angry words that burn through his soul until he is filled with bitter rage that makes him lash out. But Draco is not the same as he was before. He moves differently and thinks differently and responds like a wizard who is aware of his own strengths. Draco uses his wand.

They both end up in the Hospital Wing. Harry lies in the darkness and listens to the sound of muffled sobs that are a thousand times worse than the earlier hurtful words. Harry thought his safe world had been remade - but nothing is normal about this.

In March Harry apologises to Draco. He is sorry for the fight and for a dozen other little things that go unspoken. He is sorry for the way Draco's life has turned out. Draco sneers and says he doesn't need Harry's pity. 

In April Harry plays in the eighth year Quidditch game. Two mixed house teams clash in one final rush of adrenalin and joy before the slog of revising for NEWTs starts in earnest. Harry beats Draco to the Snitch. Afterwards he grins at Draco and Draco scowls back. 

Things seem almost normal.

In May Harry revises. Often in the library, pouring over textbooks and barely legible notes scribbled on rolls of parchment. Sometimes he looks up when Ron and Hermione have left him to find Draco sitting quietly at the opposite end of the table, his eyes firmly trained on his own revision. Harry smiles faintly to himself and does not understand why the sight fills him with hope.

In June Harry sits his NEWTs. They don't go half as badly as he fears and he knows he will have earned his spot on the Aurors through his qualifications as well through his deeds. He knows it is better this way. A year of normality has made him a different person. A better person.

In July Harry graduates. The eighth years wait by the Lake in the fading light for the boats that will carry them away from Hogwarts one final time. Harry stands a little apart gazing back at the castle and his friends leave him to it. Silence wraps itself around him.

As the sun sets Draco approaches Harry. He holds himself stiffly, a defiant look in his steel grey eyes. He holds out his hand and Harry takes it. 

He smiles at Draco and knows. He will never regret this.


End file.
